Light for vehicle curtains



May 12, 1925. 1,537,739

W. K. BISHOP LIGHT FOR VEHICLE CURTAINS Filed Sept. l5L 1924 o WITNESSES: WILLIAM K BISHOP lNvENToR ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

V'LLIAM K. BSl-OP, OF BINGI-TAMTON, 'NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0` THE`BREVTER- TITCI-IENER CORPORATIN, OEVCORTLAND, NlElW' YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

LIGHT FOR VEHICLE CURTAIS.

Application filed September 15,1924.. Serial No. 737,692.

To all whom t muy concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM K. Bisi-lor, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of l'iughamton, and the county of Broome and the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lights for Vehicle Curtains, of which the following` is a specification.

My invention relates to a window frame and more particularly pertains to a window or light adapted to be formed through an opening in the curtainof an automobile or other vehicle.

rllhe object of this invention is to provide for simple and economical installation of the sheet metal frame structure which mounts the window, pane in the curtain fabric and at the same time to provide effective means for ready replacement in the event the pane becomes broken or should otherwise need renewal. In certain respects, this latter feature represents an improvement upon my co-pending applications Serial No. 668,530 filed October 15, 1923, and Serial No. 730,842 filed August 8, 1924.

A two-part sheet metal `frame is preferably used for present purposes comprising a finishing or outer member and a complement-ary back or inner member. Simple and novel means are provided Afor binding the marginal edges of the fabric opening between these frame parts in such fashion that the structure as a whole may be interlocled without resorting to separate fastening devices or prongs of any kind.

This end may be accomplished by the use of an endless outer frame member having a bowed or dished cross-sectional shape equipt with an internal flat flange that circumscribes and bears against the marginal portion of one face of the transparent pane. he dished inner frame is further provided witha set of spaced overhung'lugs that project inwardly from the respective longitudinal edges of said dished contour and` constitute an undercut annular slot therebe tween.

The separate complementary'back or inner frame is provided with a modified type of internally disposed flat flange adapted to bear upon the opposite face of the pane, the profile of this internal flange being preferliblr such as to impart the desired amount ofi-esiliency thereto aud allow the pane to be gripped between the set of internal flanges in a sprung relation. Formed integrally with and around the internal flange of the backing frame, is an oflset grooved male part preferably of a cross-se tionally rectangular profile, which part is initially shaped to be received within the registering annular slot or femalepart of the outerv means of a novel crimp or indented cleat formedintegral with the side walls of said rectangular male offset. A cleat is formed by either' crimping, indenting, or expanding the relatively thin sheet metal side wall of' said male part outwardly so as to grip i in under the respective adjacent overhung lugs of thel nested female part. i A plurality of suchl cleats are suitably spaced and serve to interlock the inner frame part with the outer frame part after these membershave been properly assembled in place` with the curtain fabric interwoven therebetween.

Provision also has been made forreadily removing the pane from the assembled frame and curtain fabric` This is brought about by opening an end portion of one of said internal flanges of a four-sided style of frame and providing for a removable keeper piece to span this gap and complete the enclosure about the pane. The abutting ends of thel keeper are preferably made to telescope into socket portions formedinthe end faces of said flange gap and novel means are provided for snap fastening the keeper in place behind the pane. vWhen the kee er' is removed, the pane may easily be shoved endwi se out from between the respective internal flanges of the frame members and through said frame gap without interfering with the cleated tie of 'the curtain fabric. lihnbodied herein are also .eert-ain proved features of structure and organization designed to facilitate the manufacture and application of said curtain frame, all of which will be set forth in detail hereinafter.

Reference is had to the accompanying one.

Fig. Il, is fa plan-viewfof the keeper piece whileFig. 5 is a cross-section of same as `vtaken along line 5 5 of Fig. et.

Figa 6, is an enlarged sectional view of the similar right hand detail shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. '7 represents an enlarged view of the similar left hand detail shown in Fig. 3.

In these drawings, the letter A represents the sheet metal outer frame-member" in its entirety and ',Bi is the transparent pane mounted therein. The frame A is provided with an internal flange A1 adapted to bear against the marginal portion of oner side of the pane. Formed integral Ywith said flangey A1 is l a cross-sectionally dished or bowedfoffset A2, the outermost longitudinal edge of which terminatesin a foot flange A3. Said flange is further provided with an inturned annular lug lL1 that overhangs and follows theouter llongitudinal edge of the dished offset A2.

"The opposite i or innermost longitudinal edge of the' endless dished offset vA2 is likewise provided with complementary 1 inturnedannular lng A5,y which is shown as an extension of the internal flange A1, and spaced from the lug- A1 to form the slot yor female part therebetween, designated as A1.. This endless slot is disposed about the pane and preferably'follows thevframe contour. The elements A1 and A5 substantially7 lie in acommon plane with the face ofthe internal flange `A1 and this plane defines the parting face of the two part frame members.

Referring more specifically to some further' constructive details of the preferred style of theouter frame A, it will be observed fronr Figs. 6 and 7 that this frame is formed up'froma single blank of sheet anetal and that the internal flange A1 is preferably reenforcedby bending the inner ymarginal brim edge Aof the pierced shcetmetalA back upon itself toconstitute thefdescribed inner overhi'ing lug A11. The 'foot lflange A3 is formed in a similar manner to constitutev the ii'iturned'endless overhang -lug A1.

In assembling the frame7 the interposed fabric C is intended to initially lie alongsaid aligned parting face. The pane B is then mounted against the internal flange A1 of the outer frame and preferably cushioned by the interposed fabre C as shown in Fig. 7. The opposite side of the marginal edge of the pane B is 'gripped by a especially shaped internal flange D1 formed integral with the inner or backing frame and this second member of my two part frame is designated as a whole by the letter D A bead-like element D1 is provided for said flange D1 for the purpose ofv augmenting the resiliency of the latter with respect to the opposite internal flange Al aswell as-to the intermediate pane B. In the present instance, the flange, D1, and its bead D1 are not made endless as are the remaining reetangular frame parts but that said elements are cut away along one of the short ends so as to terminate in the respective sockets D11 and D11-and form agap therebetween.

The outermost longitudinal edgeV of said bead-like element D1 is sharply vbent up into a plane substantially parallel' to the internal flange D1, that is to say,A the face of the pane B but disposed in an offset relation thereto,

so as to constitute the relative-ly narrow intermediate'flange D10 and this flange is preferably made endlessso as to connect the frame across the open gap formed between the sockets D11 andy D12.

The outermost edge of said continuous intermediate lflange'Dm` is then' sharply bent inl'ofan endless annularside wall D2 -which is vdisposed substantially normal to the plane of the pane B and loosely encircles and serves to partially center same. The transverse wall D2 is imade of sufficient' length to pro-ject considerably beyond the thickness of the pane B5 whereupon the sheet metal of the backing frame -is aga-in v'bent youtwardly and away fromfthe internal flange D1 to form the 4'bottom wall D3. The face dimension of this bottom-wall vis determined by the vwidth A6 `of the receiving slot in' the femalemember as'will appear hereinafter. The sheet metal is further bent back to form another annular side wall D1whieh is substantially vparallel with the-side vwallD1. 'Fhe'inner rframe member-is finally flared outward-and away fronrthe wall D1 to form the circumscribing flange D5. 4

The transverse'side walls D2 and ,De1 together with the integral 'bottomwall D1 enclose an endlesswa'nnular groove of substantially uniform width formed in the inner frame D which-groove, designated as D11. constitutesy the nia-le part of this frame and is preferably.disposed around theqcontour of the pane B. The exterior faeesof the spaced walls Da-nd DA1 registerwith and are intended to initially enter freely into the undercut slot-DGA of the outer frame member A.

ll U

eisernes llt will be observed that said male member is kept spaced from the bead-like element D1 bymeans of the connecting .intermediate flange D10, which is preferably madeto align with the plane of the eircumsclibing flange D5. Said flange D is adapted, to bear against the inner overhung lng A5 and it thus serves as one of the stop faces for the entrance of the male part into the female part when the assembled two-part'frame is interlocked by means of my indented crimpv cleats in the manner presently to be described.

For assembling the parts ofy my frame they are brought into the relation indicated in Fig. and it will be seen that the curtain fabric C is intended to lie between the inner and outer frame flanges. The members A and D are snugly sprung'together cruisingV the margin of the opening in the fabric C to take a circuitous path aboutthe" nested male and female frame parts as is more clearly shown in Fig. 7

lhile in this strained or sprung relation, themale and female flange parts are interlocked in a novel manner by means of a crimping tool adapted to be inserted into the open side of the exposed groove Dm all of which has been more fully disclosed in` my copending applications previouslyk referred to. An oblong tool is preferably used for this purpose, and this is provided with a head portion having a length somewhat longer than the width DG of said groove, so that a partial turning of the head will serve either to expand the indented cleats in the side walls D1 and D1 or if preferred, serves to cut indentures through said walls and form up ear-like projecting spurs such as are designated as D7 and DS in Fig. 6. These spnrs thereby become int'erlocked `with the respective overhung lugs A4 and AG of the female part and firmly bind the edges of the fabric opening into the assembled frame to make a permanent leak-proof joint. there with. rlhe described indenture causes the crimp cleats D7 and D8 to project outwardly from their respective side walls in snch fashion that their overall width is now greater than the slot width 'AG and becomes positively interlocked therewith.

lt is pointed out that an important feature of my present in'iprovements liesin the faeilities provided for removing the pane from a two-part frame assembled,.especially when eleated to an interwoven curtain fabric in the manner described. lt will be seen from Fig. l that one end portion of the backing frame is left open to constitute the described gap and that the pane B is intended to be held in place by the detachable keeper E such as is shown in Figs. 4t and 5. This keeper is of a shape adapted to lit across and span the gap made by the described cut out in the elements D, and D1 and is preferably made to lill in the normal contour of the innerframe. To this end, the U-shaped keeper is provided with a bead element E10, also a fiangevportion adapted to lie fiat on the exposed parting face `of the outer frame A.y rl`he end portions of thefkeeper bead E11, are provided with relatively short projections E1 and E1 intended to telescope into the re-v spective sockets D11 and D12 of the inner frame D, which thus secure the abutting squared ends `of the keeper into the cut out or gap of the memberkD. VA novel method for locking this keeper in place is provided for, and for-this purpose a relatively short clip D9 is preferably raised out of the face of the circumscribing flange D5 in the manner best indicated in Fig. 6. This clip is sloped inwardly toward the pane and after the projections E1fand E2 have been properly entered into their sockets, `thc outermost edge of the flange E5 may be snapped `down in place behind the beveled clip D9.

Vhen it is desired to remove the pane, the keeper E can readilyfbe sprung out of place by disengaging the outer edge of the keeper flange E5 from the clip D9, whereupon the projections E1 and E2 may be withdrawn from their respective sockets D11 and D12. Thus, while the curtain is still interlocked `with the two-part frame members, the pane B may now be slipped laterally out of the sash groove formed between the set of opened complement-ary internal flanges D1 and A1 in the manner indicated by dotted and dashed lines in Figs. l and During this operation the raised clip D.J is slightly depressed by springing away theframe and allowing the pane to pass over saine. The slight inherent resiliency imparted to the internal flange D1 by the bead D1', serves to facilitate the removal ofthe pane and provides for a limited give to `meet variations in the thickness of the renewed pane. In order to further facilita-te the insert-ion of a new pane, the fabric @may be cemented or other wise secured to its adjacent flange A1 so as to hold the fabric against this flat face and prevent wrinkling. After a replacement pane has been reinserted into the frame, the

keeper may be snapped backin place in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

It will be seen that the pane replacement;

operation is simple and may easily be performed even by such user of my curtain light frame who may not be especially skilled in the automobile trimmers art, and that this may be accomplished without in anyway disturbing the novel cleated tie that interlocks the nested frame members with marginal edges in the fabric o pening v 1 'Vhile the preferred embodiment of my removable keeper has been set forth in de tail as nsedin combination with the described indented cleat means for permanentwill beunderstood thatmy novel devices lare subjectto -a rather-wide latitude in theirjapplicationg-asl an instance, it will be apparent that-instead of utilizing snap clip D9, substantially equivalent resultasto holding the keeper in place may beliad the` use of screws, 'dowels and the like .fastening means. If desired,` the gap providedfor the 'renewal of the panefmay'be cut back further so kas to include the intermediate :flange A10 'but it is pointed out that the sheet metal actually used for this flange is kept relatively thin. Hence when the frame members vare sprung apart, this thin metal ridge A10 will not prevent the removal of the pane as mightbelinferred from abnormal metal thickness shown in Fig. 6. y

Furthermore, -it is not essential that the slot A6 as formed between the` outerframe lugs A, and :Al-bel made endless since aseriesfof spaced shorter slots or 'female'` parts suitably encompassing the contour f of the pane Bwillserve the same purpose. In that event, the nestedmale parts would be correspondinglyshortened so as toaga-in register with-such ymodified slots. It will also be yunderstood thatthe malef'rame parts need .not necessarily `be shaped in the rectangular fashion shown in thedra-wings,and that various changes in the details of myfkeeper device may `belresorted -towit-hontdeparting` from the spirit -andscope ofV my invention, heretofore described andr more particularly set forth in the-'appended claims.

Claims:

V1.In a curtain :light frame comprising membersadapted to -be"nested, a? male part for one Aof themembers and; a-registering female part-for vthe othermember, an internal flangefor eaclr of 4said frame -4members of which oneflangef is pro-videdwith agap, au bead-like element-r for said gapped lflange serving to impart `augmented resiliency thereto, a pane mounted between said flanges and removable through vsaid gap, a detachablekeeper "adapted to span said gap and` retain the assembled pane' inplace, and indented cleat means between the male and femaleparts serving to interlock and snugly hold ysaid flanges-against the: pane.

2. In a curtain lightfra-mecomprising members Aadapted to be nested, annale part for one of themenibers and :a registering female; part-for the other1nember, an internal-v flange for, each of said framemembers ofwhich one flange' is providedw-itha gap, a pane 4mounted bet-ween- Said flanges and removable therefrom lthrough said gap, means serving to vdetachably retain-the .assembled pane in place, and-indented cleat means interlocking saidv flanges aboutv the pane.

3. In ay curtain light Afran'iecomprising members adapted to bey nested, al malel part for-one of the'members-and a.l registering female part forthe other memberyan internal flange foreach of'said members of which one'flange is provided witha gap, a pane mounted between said flanges and removable therefrom through said gap, a curtain fabric mounted between the pane and one of said flanges, andindented cleat means between the male and female v'parts interlocking said flanges about the pane.

'4..Infa curt-ainlight comprising complementary endless frame members, a set of internally` disposed lugs for` one of said members, a male part for 'the other member adapted tofnest between said lugs, said male partbeing disposed transversely with respect to said lugs and extending across the partingsurface between Said frame mem bers, acurtain `fabric interposed between the'male part and said lugs, an indented cleat means serving to positively interlock said fabric rwith theframe members, an internal flange for each of said members of which one flange is provided with a gap, a pane having its marginal faces mounted between said flanges ,and .removable therefrom through said gap, a. detachable keeper means adapted to span said gap, and means forsecuring the keeper in place behind the edge of' said pane. i

5.7111 a curtain light comprising complementary endless frame members, a s et of internally' disposed `lugs for one of said members, a `malepartfor the other member adapted to ynest ybetween said lugs, said male part being disposed transversely with respect to said lugs and extending across the parting surface between said frame memberscurtainj fabric interposed between the male part and said lugs, anindented cleat means serving to;positively interlock said fabric with the frame members,'an internal flange foreach of saidmembers of which onefflange is provided with bead-like element and ragap therefor equipt with a set of s aced sockets, a pane having its margina faces mounted between `said internal angesand removable therefrom through said gap, a detachable keeper Adevice adapted to span said gap, said keeper being providedwithy a set Aoffprojections adapted to engage the respective sockets, and means for replaceably retaining the keeper in` place behind the edge of the pane.

6.7111 a curtainlight comprising a pane and complementary? frame members therefor, aset of Ioppos'itely disposed lugs for one of said members constituting a female part, a male part forv the other member adapted to nest withinv the fen'iale part, lsaid male part being disposed transversely wit-hrespect to theface of` the. pane and extending across the parting surface between said frame members, indented cleat means for interlocking said male a-ndfemale parts, an internally disposed flange for one of said frame members adapted to bear against the marginal portion of one face of the pane, a gap for said internal flange through which said pane is slidably removable, means carried by the other frame member adapted to engage the oppositie face of the pane, a keeper means, and means for detachably securing the keeper to the frame. and replaceably hold thel pane in place. i A y 7. A curtain light frame comprising members for holding a pane, one of which members is provided with a female part and the other with a male part initially shaped to be received within the female part, the male part being expanded or indented within the female part aforesaid when the members are assembled around the pane, and

means including a detachable keeper device for replaceably mounting the pane in said interlocked frame members.

8. In a sheet metal curtain light frame comprising complementary members for holding a removably mounted pane, an internal flange for each of said frame mem-` bers of which frame one flange is vprovided with a gap, a pane having its marginal faces slidably mounted between said flanges and removable therefrom through said gap, a curtain fabric interposed between said frame members and permanently interloeked therewith, and a detachable keeper means serving to close said gap and replaceably retain said pane in the frame. Y

9. ln a set of complementary endless frame members for holding a pane, one of which members is provided with a female part adapted to encompass the contour of the pane, and the other member of which is provided with a registering male part initially shaped to be received within said female part, the male part being expanded or indented within the female part aforesaid when the members are assembled around the pane, an internal flange and a oircumsoribing flange for the member which is equipped with said male part, an intermediate flange disposed between said male part and the internal flange, said intermediate flange together with said eircumseribing flange serving as a stop for the entrance of the male part into the female part. p

10. In a set of complementary frame members forI holding a pane, one of which members 'is provided with a female part adapted to encompass the contour ofthe pane, and

the other member of which is provided with the registering male part initially shaped to be received within said female part, an internal flange for one of said members adapted to bear against the marginal portion of one face of` the pane, means including a bead-,like element serving to impart aug- 4mented resiliencyl to said internal flange,

means Carried by the other frame member adapted to engage the opposite face of the pane, and indented cleat means between the male and female parts for interlocking said frame members about the pane. In testimony whereof, I have herewith set my hand this 12th day of September, 1924:.

VILLIAM K. BISHOP. Witnesses RAY lV. Ammin, 

